


Complicated Beginnings

by QueenOfRohirrim



Series: Wolves & Stags [2]
Category: A Song of Ice and Fire - George R. R. Martin, Game of Thrones (TV)
Genre: Arguing, Coming Out, Divorce, Domestic Violence, F/M, Implied Mpreg, Implied/Referenced Homophobia, Infidelity, M/M, Marriage of Convenience, Unplanned Pregnancy
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-04-21
Updated: 2020-04-21
Packaged: 2021-03-01 22:20:07
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,041
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23764468
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/QueenOfRohirrim/pseuds/QueenOfRohirrim
Summary: Ned married Catelyn during their first year of college when she got pregnant with Robb.They only lasted two years before going down in flames.Really, he should have seen it all coming from miles away. Everyone else had.
Relationships: Catelyn Stark/Ned Stark, Melisandre of Asshai/Stannis Baratheon, Robert Baratheon/Ned Stark
Series: Wolves & Stags [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1709089
Comments: 1
Kudos: 36





	Complicated Beginnings

**Author's Note:**

> This series is going to alternate between Sansa’s journey and Ned’s.

Catelyn was enraged, and that was putting things lightly.

Truthfully, Ned had expected that to be the case but the anger he was counting on mostly just took the form of grief filled tears.

Apparently his soon to be ex wife was not a crier at all, but a screamer and thrower of sharp objects.

“You senseless, unfeeling, excuse for a man!” She’d screamed before catching him across the cheek with something that had been made of glass.

It broke and left a nasty mark, but at the time Ned was so worried for little Robb, asleep just down the hallway, and for the baby in Cat’s belly, that he hadn’t noticed just how badly the slice stung.

“You need to calm down...” He’d tried to settle the inconsolable woman as she continued to shout at him and throw things across the room. “Cat, think of the baby, please...”

“Don’t act like you care about me! About any of us! Why the fuck would you ever ask to marry me, Ned Stark!?” 

The tears did start then but the fury never left.

“We had Robb!” Ned admitted, losing a battle to keep his own nerves in check. “What was I supposed to do!? Let you raise him alone?”

“I’ll raise him alone now and I’ll do it just fine without you in the way!” Catelyn declared. “Get out of my house! Go back to your whore!”

“Say that again, Cat.” Ned growled in a sudden rage that frightened him.

He had wondered briefly if he might have hit her. If she had dared to repeat those words to his face.

Fortunately for the both of them, she did not, as the sudden change in Ned’s tone had frightened her too.

“Go.” She demanded again. “Take your bloody things and get out! We’re finished here.”

“We certainly are.” Ned agreed, quickly collecting what all he could pack into his car. 

He called Brandon before he actually left the house, and asked that he come to watch over Cat and little Robb for a bit.

He would have preferred to bring the boy along with him, but that would have caused another fight.

So, as soon as his older brother’s lights pulled into the drive, Ned left on his own.

...

“You’re a fortunate man.” Stannis’s current girlfriend hummed at Ned while she finished patching up the wound on his cheek. “There are many women that would have done far worse under the same circumstances.”

“I deserved it, in truth.” He grunted, wincing when she finished the stitching and began to dab at the newly placed sutures with some sort of disinfectant. “I never should have asked for her hand.”

“I warned you.” Stannis muttered, his arms crossed over his chest as he watched from the other end of the kitchen. 

“Stannis, fuck off.” Robert snarled at his brother. “We all warned him but you’re not helping anything now.”

“You can be silent.” Stannis snapped at his elder brother. “I’ve had enough from you today to last a lifetime.”

“I think you all need to calm down.” Melisandre advised the three men. “Before anyone says something that they’ll regret.”

She gave Stannis a brief but serious glance before placing a few bandages over Ned’s cheek.

“There. That should heal but there will most likely be a scar.” She informed her shaken patient. 

“That’s not such a bad thing, is it?” Robert shrugged. “You might look better with a scar, Ned.”

“Robert, be quiet.”

“Shut up, Stannis!”

“It’s alright...” Ned sighed, looking up to Melisandre and giving her what little of a smile he could manage. “Thank you, Mel. The ER would have had me waiting still.”

“Well, luckily for you, I wasn’t working tonight.” The red haired woman sighed tiredly, packing up her things and standing from the chair she’d been occupying. “Stannis, If you need me to do anything else while I’m here, I’d rather you just tell me now. This is the second time this week I’ve been called in the middle of the night without the hospital being involved.”

“And I do apologize for that.” Stannis growled, glaring at his brother and at Ned before leading Melisandre to the door. 

Ned wanted to cry but at the same time he was relieved.

“You see now where honor gets you?” Robert huffed at him. 

“Please don’t.” Ned sighed, leaning onto the table, his face buried in his hands. “I was wrong. I get it. I shouldn’t have married her...I just thought I was doing the right thing for my son.”

He felt tears threaten to escape his eyes when he thought of little Robb.

Cat would probably make it as difficult as possible for him to see his son now.

“You could have called the police when she did that to you.” Robert frowned, eyeing the newly patched slice across Ned’s face. “At the very least. The bitch would have deserved it.”

“No.” Ned sighed. “I hurt her. She had every right to be angry.”

“You’re very irritating, you know that? Robert told him. “That might be one of the dumbest things I’ve ever heard.”

“Well, feel free to throw a plate at me too!” Ned hissed. “Apparently I can’t please anyone no matter what I do!”

Robert got quiet and staid that way for awhile while Ned sat in silence with his thoughts.

“You told her why?” Robert inquired finally, breaking the tension.

“I did.” Ned confirmed. 

“You told her everything?” Robert pressed him further.

“Everything.” Ned sighed.

“Well that’ll be out to the whole city by morning...” Robert muttered. “Or at least to everyone at the office.”

“Probably.” The wounded Stark agreed, lifting his head and wiping his eyes with the sleeve of his jacket. 

“Are you angry, Ned? With me?”

“No.” 

He didn’t have to think about that question at all.

“I’m angry with myself.” He clarified. “I’ve made everyone miserable, haven’t I?”

“Forget it.” Robert advised him. “It’s over now. You’re back where you belong. Now, let’s just go to bed and pretend it was all a bad dream.”

Ned didn’t fight the hand that found his wrist and tugged him up from his seat. 

He was tired, and worrying would surely wait until he woke again.


End file.
